Josie Duggar is the youngest of her parents’ 19 children, and some fans are worried that her needs are being overlooked.
Their concerns were prompted by a photo that’s been making its way across social media this week.
“Look who finished the whole grade! #teacherlife #bestlife,” the pic was captioned.
The source of the photo is unknown, but as In Touch Weekly reports, it’s believed to have originated on the Instagram page of Laurie DeMasie, a longtime friend of Jana Duggar.
The image has been shared numerous times on Reddit’s Duggar-focused message boards.
Unfortunately, the reason for its popularity among Duggar fans has little to do with pride in Josie’s accomplishments, and much to do with concerns that she’s not progressing at the same rate as her peers.
Many commenters on Reddit feel the page of schoolwork that Josie’s displaying may be evidence of a developmental disability.
“Oh no, looking at this photo and the page in that book feels awkward because I teach kids Josie’s age,” one user remarked.
“I feel it’s reasonable to think that she might have special education needs. If so, the Duggars won’t know how to change the education curriculum to suit Josie’s needs.”
The Duggars homeschool their children, and some feel that that practice, combined with the size of the family and Jim Bob and Michelle’s distrust of modern medical testing could lead to some of their children “slipping through the cracks.”
“I worry that JB and Michelle probably are ignorant of education difficulties like Dyslexia (very common, very easily helped if managed properly), and instead having one of their strange IBLP beliefs about ‘curing’ needs like that,” the commenter continued.
One fan suggested that additional cause for concern might be found in Jim Bob and Michelle’s 2011 memoir:
“I think they mentioned in the book JB had Dyslexia,” writes the Reddit user.
Another commenter expressed her belief that even if Josie is suffering from a learning disorder, her parents are primarily to blame for her lack of progress:
“Yeah, it is possible that she has some kind of learning disability or cognitive delay to at least partially explain this,” another user added.
“That said though, my friend teaches Grade 2, so her oldest students might be Josie’s age, and from what she has told me even her most delayed student (who has Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders) is doing work that is harder than this.”
She added that the same controversial homeschool curriculum that “worked” for the older Duggar children may prove insufficient to Josie’s needs:
“It might be a combination of Josie having extra difficulties, and neither the Duggars nor any of their tutors knowing how to teach special ed, but we don’t know for sure, and every child is different.”
It’s unlikely that the Duggars will ever comment on this matter themselves.
But clearly, fans are hoping Josie’s parents will do everything in their power to find whatever help she needs.
Watch Counting On online for more from reality TV’s most controversial family.
